What was it like watching the Bearcats when they were in that special groove on the court—running at full speed, making one shot after another, forcing turnovers, clicking like a well-oiled machine? 

“My initial response to this question focused on the game-by-game consistency that the team demonstrated. During my sophomore and junior years as a manager I had already experienced the talent and the potential that was present with the HHS athletic teams during that time. The 1972 basketball team certainly demonstrated both the talent and the potential but it possessed something more, consistency. For I had not witnessed until my senior year the belief that we were going to win each game as opposed to hoping that we would win the game.
The observation that dedicated practice, deserving and consistent leadership, brotherhood among the players, and quality coaching resulted in such success certainly has had an influence on each of the team members, including myself.”

 —Manager Dan Veazey

What intangible was most important in the team's success? 

“I believe that the intangible that contributed most to our success was created on Oak Street where Johnny, Tippy and Dennis began playing together almost from the very first moment that any one of them even touched a basketball. This later led to a very cohesive, intuitive style of play between them on both ends of the floor that made them highly effective as a unit. That childhood friendship among the three of them was evident in play that was always directed to a win rather than a stellar personal performance.  Add to this mix, even though he was the ‘thoroughbred’ player of the team, Harold Albany's unselfish play and confident leadership on the court, with the only height provided by Brian Tallent and you have a starting five that can go. The starters’ belief in Coach Pardue's team play philosophy set a clear standard for the rest of the team that resulted in a close knit group of players and managers working hard and having a good time together.”  

 —Reserve guard Robert Fain

What was your most satisfying win prior to the state tournament?

“I would say my most satisfying win prior to the state tournament was an early season win over Tuscola at our place. I believe that win solidified us as a legitimate contender. I felt like Tuscola was probably the team that we would eventually have to go through to qualify for the state tournament. They returned the favor a week or two later at their place by giving us our only loss that year. We didn’t get a third meeting, as expected, in the District 8 tournament final because they got upset by Pisgah in the tournament semifinals. We wound up winning handily over Pisgah in the District 8 championship game and advancing to Durham for the state tournament.”

 —Starting forward Johnny Landrum

Describe the Bearcats' style of play.

“This era of basketball was before dunking was legal. The team was a good shooting team with lots of hustle to put pressure on the other team resulting in steals and fast break layups.”

 —Cameraman Chip Lamb

What's the most important lesson you learned from Coach Pardue?

“The most important lesson I learned from Coach Pardue is one that I’ve only come to fully appreciate and understand more recently. Focus on team unity is everything. He required us all to dress the same for away games…..gray slacks, white turtleneck, blue blazer. The significance escaped us at the time. Many other teams dressed in ties. Different colored shirts, maybe no coat. Nothing unusual about that. But when the Bearcats entered the opposing gymnasium we entered as one. We were identical. This unifying gesture was bigger internally and externally than we realized at the time. We were one then. And in a small way I think it laid the foundation for us to come together as one 50 years later.”

 —Reserve forward Mike Norris

What did you learn about yourself from playing for Coach Pardue?

“I feel that the most important thing I learned from Coach Pardue was that you always have room for improvement, and through hard work you can realize that improvement and help the team to succeed. I also learned that working as a team, and helping your teammates to succeed, will always lead to a better outcome than concentrating on individual results.”

 —Starting center Brian Tallent

What was the atmosphere like before the state championship game?

“Down went Washington and that nonsensical nickname of the Pam Pack by six points on Thursday. Down went undefeated Madison-Mayodan by a dozen on Friday. Now on Saturday night only Pinecrest High stood between the Bearcats and their improbable run to the State 3-A basketball title. These crowds of upwards of 1,800 fans who wrapped around the playing court in Durham High’s Paul Sykes Gym were something we’d never seen, coming from Hendersonville, a middling town tucked up in the hills before all of the interstate highways made getting ‘down east’ such a breeze.

Pre-game? Of course there was Harold “Big A” Albany facing up with the basketball, extending his arms and flicking that right wrist ever so eloquently and flighting the ball with perfect spin on its eventual kiss with the nets (ninety-one points in three games, thank you very much). I remember the yellowish haze up in the rafters (this was a tobacco town, after all, in the days of the Marlboro Man). I remember the Billboard Top 100 music piped through the sound system (“The next stop that we make will be England, tell all the folks in Russia, and China, too …” ). I remember Coach Pardue nervously twisting that red towel. I remember Durham High Coach Dave Odom before he coached in the ACC lingering in the background. There was Buddy Chapman with his Times-News camera and notepad and Charlie Renfro with his WHKP microphone to beam the story back to the few folks left in Henderson County. Clapping and tapping in a neat row in front of the Bearcat fans were the varsity cheerleaders who, to a lowly freshman, might as well have been a chorus line of Ali MacGraws. 

And Pinecrest High, the defending state champions with a frontline imported from the Redwood Forest? Gulp. The Miracle on Ice was eight years into the future. But by God the concept was just about to play out in Durham …. “

 —Manager Lee Pace

How much did losing the game at the buzzer to Whiteville in the 1971 2A state tournament motivate you during your senior year?

“It motivated me big-time. We won that game but it was taken from us. I couldn’t get it over it. But it light a fire in me. When we lost that game, I came back the very next day and started working on my game. Said to myself: We’re going back next year and we’re gonna win it.”

 —Starting forward Harold Albany

What was the key to Hendersonville's smothering defense?

“Coach Pardue instilled in us all that we were most of all a team. We ran a full-court press that consisted of the team being in better shape than our opponents. Coach Pardue made sure we were in better shape by consistently running us in practice. Foul line back! Half line back! Foul line back! Full court back! I woke up in the morning saying this. I went to breakfast saying this. I ate dinner saying this. I went to bed saying this.”

 —Reserve guard Jeff Gould

What did the achievement of winning the state championship mean to Hendersonville?

“The importance of our victory in the 1972 state  championship was revealed in many ways by many groups county wide and regionally. For myself, just how big this really was started when North Carolina State Trooper Jeter Wyle turned on blue lights and sirens for our escort south on Highway 25 to the high school. Fans were everywhere and it was a tremendous celebration. For the team, the next month saw us visiting the community service groups including Kiwanis, Rotary, and Lions Club. A visit to the Grove Park Inn followed and made the award that the Bearcats really did achieve seem more important. Adolph Rupp, Kentucky basketball coach, was the speaker. The memories could and will go on forever. Friendships have grown and been fortified. This championship has marked a place in time and in people's memories of living and growing up here in Hendersonville.”

 —Manager Bill Ponder

When the team stepped off the bus after winning the state championship and you saw the large crowd of fans there to celebrate, how did that feel?

“I felt great and overjoyed, but not only for our team and our student body and faculty but I was overwhelmed by the support of our community. Many supported us by coming to our games and also listening to our games by the means of radio. What a great moment in time 1972 will always be—etched in history.”

 —Starting guard Henry “Tippy” Creswell